


As the Days Go By

by 1917farmgirl



Series: Gravel on the Ground [1]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: F/M, Harry has more family, Prequel
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-04-18
Updated: 2018-04-18
Packaged: 2019-04-24 13:30:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,971
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14356497
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/1917farmgirl/pseuds/1917farmgirl
Summary: "Sometimes all you can do is just take a picture to hold your place in time."Glimpses into the lives of Charlie and Jenny (Potter) McLauchlin over the years.Prequel to From the Ashes. OC/OC, Molly/Arthur





	1. Rock-A-Bye-Baby

**As the Days Go By**

**Author’s Note:** This is a prologue to my “Gravel on the Ground” series. It is meant to provide brief glimpses into the lives of Charlie and Jenny McLauchlin, the parents of my character Sadie McLauchlin from the main series, as well as a few others. It will not be updated at any set schedule, but once certain plot points have come up in the main story, I will post here to provide more background.

Standard notes from the main series: 

I’ve borrowed a concept for this story from another fandom. In the TV series Charmed (created by Constance M. Burge and Aaron Spelling) strong magic is passed down through the women in a family, and each witch usually inherits skills that focus on one of three abilities: moving objects, manipulating time, or mental abilities like seeing the past or future. I’ve made my characters descended from the same magical line – the Warren family – which means that they have these magical traits, but because they are combined with the form of magic used in Harry Potter, they have been altered slightly. It explains the ability to do wandless magic easier than usual and a few unique characteristics, but that’s the only connection to Charmed. This isn’t meant to be a crossover between the show and the Harry Potter books.

I intend to remain as faithful as possible to the plots and events of all the books, with a few exceptions:  
1\. The inclusion of original characters in events they obviously weren’t present for.   
2\. The appearance of characters may reflect the movie characters more than the book versions.  
3\. When I read the books, they seemed to be sort of timeless. I had no idea they were set in a specific year until I read DH and saw the dates on Lily and James’ tombstone. I was a little peeved, as it messed with my mental image of things, but I digress. Anyway, to make this story work with things I have planned farther down the line, I needed to adjust the HP dates. I have added five years to the HP timeline, pushing it forward slightly, but it really shouldn’t change anything for readers.

Also I consider all the “extra” information JKR has given us about characters that wasn’t included in the actual books to be “suggestions” rather than canon. I don’t want to know everything! It doesn’t leave my imagination any room to play! 

**Special thanks to** Smuffly for being the heart behind this story and loving it as much as I do. For hours of endless plot help, encouragement, reading and re-reading, and editing. For making me keep writing it, and convincing me to post it. Without her, this story wouldn’t exist, so, Smuffly, this story is for you.

 **Disclaimer:** The characters, settings, and world of the Harry Potter books are created by J.K. Rowling and belong to her. Only the original characters and the story idea belong to me. I make no profit from this.

 

 

 

 

 

**Gravel on the Ground: As the Days Go By**

_It was all they could do to just be brave  
But they smiled for the camera anyway  
Sometimes all you can do is just take a picture to hold your place in time  
As the days go by_

_\- Cherie Call_

**Chapter 1: Rock-a-Bye Baby**

“You’re what?” eleven-year-old Jenny Potter cried, glancing back and forth between her parents, fork forgotten in her hand.

“We’re going to have a baby, dear,” her mother repeated, smiling at her across the dinner table.

“You’re going to be a big sister,” her father added, wrapping an arm around her mother and pulling her close. “In about six months or so.”

Jenny felt her jaw drop and her parents laughed at her gently.

“Surprised, love?” asked her dad, winking at her across the table before picking his spoon back up and attacking the pudding. 

Jenny nodded, still staring at them with huge eyes. “What do you want a baby for?” she finally blurted.

Her father choked on his dessert while her mother tilted her head back and let her laugh ring out.

“Because we believe that this family has enough love for two children, don’t you agree?” her father managed to answer.

“Don’t you want a brother or sister?” added her mum.

“Well, I suppose. It’s just… You should have asked me first!” she scolded, scowling at her parents with her arms crossed. For some reason she didn’t quite understand this caused her parents to start laughing again.

*****

“Do you want to hold him?”

Jenny looked with awe at the tiny bundle in her mother’s arms, seeing the wispy black hair, tiny red face, bitsy fingers and toes… He looked just like the dolls she’d put carefully away last year, declaring herself too old for that now.

“Yes,” she answered, nodding her head eagerly. She climbed quickly onto the edge of her parents’ bed and held her breath as her mum placed the baby in her arms. Alert, gray eyes stared back at her, studying her solemnly.

“We’re going to name him James,” her dad said. “What do you think? Does it fit him?”

Jenny peered thoughtfully at the little, wrinkled human she was holding. _I don’t know_ , she thought. Baby, _are you a James?_

Suddenly, the baby closed and reopened one eye.

“He winked at me!” Jenny cried.

“Oh, probably not, love,” her mother said tiredly. “Babies this tiny can’t really control things like that.”

“No, Mum,” Jenny said seriously. “I know he winked. He’s telling us he likes the name James.”

*****

As she stood before the great, scarlet engine for the first time, her traitorous lip began to wobble. Hordes of others jostled her on all sides, children eager to find the best seats on the train, parents holding onto them until they absolutely had to let go. But Jenny didn’t care about any of it. 

“Jenny, what’s wrong?” her mum asked, crouching down to her height. “Why are you crying?”

“I want to go home,” Jenny whispered.

“Why? You’ve been excited to go to Hogwarts for years,” her dad added, standing beside them and guarding the pram that held Baby James, not caring that a baby pram didn’t exactly match his distinguished robes and graying mustache.

“I know…but…”

“But what, dear. What’s different all of the sudden?” her mother pressed, worried.

Jenny sniffed loudly and then pointed to her baby brother.

“James?” her dad asked, confused. “Why would James make you want to go home?”

“What if…what if he forgets me!” she blurted suddenly, all the worry she’d been hiding for the last week finally spilling out. “He’s so little, and I’ve only just got to know him! What if he forgets all about me while I’m gone?”

“Oh, Jenny, love! He’s not going to forget you! You’ll come home at holidays, and then next summer you’ll have all sorts of splendid adventures to tell him! And when he’s older, he’ll send you pictures and you can send him notes back. He’ll be so proud of his big sister, off at Hogwarts!”

“Are you sure?” she asked her parents.

“Of course,” her dad replied.

Jenny stepped up to the pram and pushed the cover back, gazing at her baby brother. He saw her face and grinned, reaching for her with fists that were starting to get chubby.

“And are you _sure_ I can’t take him with me? I promise to take care of him! He can stay in my dorm, and come to classes with me in my bag, and…”

“Jenny,” said her mother, with an exasperated laugh. “Just go get on the train.”


	2. Old MacDonald Had a Farm

**Chapter 2: Old MacDonald Had a Farm**

“Ah, look at that!”

The small boy jumped, his fork dropping with a clatter as he stared at the older boys. They were pointing at him, their faces stretched in horror.

“What?” he squeaked in a terrified whisper.

“Your head’s on fire!” one shouted, still appearing appalled.

The boy’s hand flew to his head in alarm, feeling all over frantically.

“Oh, wait, never mind,” said another. “That’s just your hair. Our mistake.”

The whole group burst out into uproarious laughter, clutching at each other like it was the funniest thing they’d ever heard. Color to match his hair climbed up the young boy’s cheeks as he let his hands drop, studying his mostly empty plate with determination.

“See ya later, Gingy!” one of the bullies teased, the group still snorting as they walked away. 

Watching the entire scene play out in front of him, Charlie McLauchlin frowned. It was only the second week of term but already the group of seventh year boys had chosen to focus their torments on the small first year Gryffindor with the flaming red hair, patched robes, and spectacles way too large for his freckled face. 

Suddenly, a wave of compassion and camaraderie surged through Charlie. He shut the book he’d been reading with a snap, rising to his feet.

“Hey,” he said, sliding onto the bench next to the younger boy. “Don’t let Perry and his mates get to you. They just can’t handle people who stick out,” he added, pointing to his own ginger hair with a wry grin.

The younger boy looked him over then hesitantly returned the grin.

“I saw you in the common room the other night. I’m Charlie by the way – third year.”

“Arthur,” the kid replied. “But most people call me Artie.” Artie glanced at the book in his hands. “What’s that?” he asked, his freckled face curious.

“Oh, just a book of Muggle farm machinery…” said Charlie, suddenly embarrassed as he tried to slip the book out of sight.

“Really?” Artie cried, excitement flashing through his eyes. “Can I see? Please?”

“You like Muggle things?”

“I think they’re brilliant!”

“Here, look at this one on page fifteen! It’s my favorite!” Charlie shoved the forgotten breakfast dishes out of the way and flopped the book down on the table in front of them, rapidly flipping pages. A strange excitement was filling him; he’d never before met anyone else who shared his love of Muggles and their amazing inventions!

Together they poured over the book for hours, never noticing as the breakfast dishes disappeared. By the time the tepid, Saturday morning sunshine in the Great Hall had slipped into the bright light of noon a fast and lasting friendship had been born.

*****

With a heavy sigh, Charlie refolded the letter. Hesitantly, he walked the length of the great hall to the end of the Ravenclaw table.

“She wrote again,” he said softly and without preamble, leaning against the old wood. The thin, pale girl of seventeen shrugged.

“Annalise, she just wants to know how you are, what you’ve been doing!” he said, his frustration thickening his Scottish accent. “It’s been three months since you wrote to her yourself!”

His sister finally turned to face him, her eyes dark against her freckled face as the candlelight caught in her auburn hair.

“Tell her I’m fine,” she said without emotion, her own accent flat and dull.

“It’s _just_ Mum. Why don’t you write to her yourself? What did she do to make you so angry?” he pleaded. It cut at his heart to see these two people he loved at odds with each other.

“You’re too young to understand,” Annalise answered, turning away.

“I’m thirteen!” he said stubbornly, his own anger flashing. “I’m not a baby!”

She ignored him, her back stiff.

Charlie sighed again. “Just write to her, okay, Lisy.” He set the folded letter down on the table and pushed it forward until it touched her arm, then walked dejectedly back to his own table.

He didn’t see her again that evening, but when he walked past the empty Ravenclaw table he noticed the letter was gone.


End file.
